Efficacy of Shaming Penalties: Evidence From SEC Football
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2012
Description
Use of public humiliation as a deterrent to crime lias a long history as does the debate over its effectiveness. A recent rule change in college football presents a natural experiment to test the effectiveness of so-called shaming penalties, In 2004 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) mandated that the head official in football should announce to the crowd the jersey number of the offending player when an infraction is called. We use data from Southeastern Conference Football (2000-2007) to evaluate the effect of disclosing the offender to the public on the number of penalties called in conference play, We find a significant decrease in penalties per game after the rule change.
Citation Information
Stevenson, Taylor P.; Tollison, Robert D.; and Pearson, Dennis. 2012. Efficacy of Shaming Penalties: Evidence From SEC Football. Economics Bulletin. Vol.32(2). 1162-1170.